Unexpected Appearances
Legolas was profoundly grateful that the grey stallion seemed to agree with him this time, allowing them to hide in time before the humans had reached them. Still, trying not to be discovered close to a path with two horses was not the safest endeavour, prompting him to draw one of his knives. He frevently hoped he would not need it.
The angry voices drew closer quickly. Soon he could make out what the men were saying. "Curse Galoth", one shouted, "he never told us we would be slaughtered by elves when helping him."
"He says it was neccessary", another called back,"and we are still alive to share more of the loot, so don´t wet your pants."
"Who says we won´t be next ?", a third man asked. "Lord Elrond´s sons lived up to their legend back there, and that Galoth has taken away their little brother won´t make them any tamer."
"Don´t be such a fool! They won´t know of his betrayal until they have reached our camp, and then they will be too scared for that human brat to attack us!"
The horses thundered by now, their riders far too engaged in their conversation to look left or right.
"Aye, and then Lord Elrond will pay a nice rasom to get them all back! Works for me!"
Laughter arose, though it was soon replaced by more grumbling and whining about the dangers of their plan.
Legolas waited until he could no longer hear the men or their horses before he urged the grey stallion back onto the path. The pain in his arm had faded away even more as his anger had steadily risen, and now he barely felt it. The men had left broad tracks that could easily be followed, even in the pale moonlight that now iluminated them, and he set out to do so without hesitation.
From what he had heard he gathered that he would find Galoth and the twins somehwere close by, and he intended to let Galoth feel the bite of his knife without further questions. The thought of Estel in in danger yet again enraged him more than he had anticipated.
The horses seemed to sense his grim mood, because neither tried to refuse his lead this time. They followed the path in tense silence, until all of a sudden Alagos, who had cantered along the grey´s side, took the lead, his nostrils flaring. No sooner had he done so than a neigh could be heard from not far away, and Alagos answered it eagerly.
Legolas considered reining in the horses to approach whoever was out there more stealthily, but then abandoned the thought. Who knew whether he would even be able to still the animals, and truth be told, he was uncertain whether he woul be all that silent on foot. A light-headedness had befallen him, either due to the wound or the leaves he had chewed or simple exhaustion. He did not care which, but he knew he would rather invest his remaining strength in slitting Galoth´s throat than in fighting for control with two stubbotn horses.
Alagos and the grey neighed together now, their answer following quickly, and thus it took them only a few moments to come upon the glow of a fire among the trees. Legolas drew his knife once more, eyes fxed on the clearing, and braced himself when the horses cleared the last trees to come to a halt close to the fire.
Immediately, Legolas found himself faced with an arrow. His hand twitched to release his knife at his attacker, but he caught himself just as the missile was lowered.
"By the Valar, Legolas!" Elrohir stared at him in disbelief. "What do you think you are doing, barging in on us like that!"
Elladan looked up from where he sat by the fire, interrupted in the middle of cleaning a wound that ran along his left arm. Judging by the amount of soiled rags that lay nearby this was not the first wound he attended to, yet despite of his several bandages he seemed well enough. Now that the sense of an impeding battle had left him, Legolas could smell the sweet scent of healing herbs in the air.
The older twin´s face was unreadable. "It would look like our dear friend would like to join us in binding our wounds." He rather pointedly looked at the prince´s arm and the arrow that was still embedded in it.
Elrohir, who was clearly only now recovering from his surprise, swore under his breath. "Truly, it is a wonder that Mirkwood still has an heir. How did you manage to sustain a new injury when you should still be in bed with the last?"
"I came to your rescue", Legolas answered with a small smile and slid off the grey stallion´s back, hoping that the humour in his voice and the fact that he was capable of dismounting on his own would appease the younger twin. Unfortunately, the desired effect was ruined by the way he swayed as soon as his feet, especially the splinted one, had touched the ground.
"I can see how you are an asset to our defences", Elrohir said dryly, expertly catching his friend under the arms to avoid touching the arrow when he lowered him to the ground. "You could simply faint on the next man trying to kill us."
Elladan snorted and Legolas bit his lip, considering it wise not to say anything just now. He focused on steadying his breaths and taking in the small camp. His two horses had joined the three others that stood nearby, the five of them exchanging quite nickers
On the other side of the fire he only now noticed the sleeping figure of a man, a bow resting next to him... Legolas pushed himself up onto his good foot, fully intending to carry out his earlier plan to kill Galoth, but was firmly pressed to the ground again by Elrohir, who now appeared at his side bearing several pouches.
"Leave him be for now", he said quietly, "we have given him enough sleeping herbs to last for several hours.
"But he has abducted Estel!" Legolas shouted angrily. "It is a pity that I shall now have to wait until I can kill him!"
"We know what he did", Elladan said calmly. "And killing him will service no one. Not yet."He had walked over to them and knelt by Legolas´ side, gingerly examining where the arrow had struck him.
"You know?" Legolas asked in disbelief. "But why did you let him do it then?"
"Because we knew he would not harm Estel. He needed him to pressure us into yielding once he had let us to the poachers´ camp."
Legolas was not sure whether his new injury slowed his thoughts or whether he had truly missed a vital revelation or two. "You know that Galoth is the leader of the poachers? Then why is he still alive? Why not take him out and be done with this sorrowful affair?" He drew in a breath, still confused. "And how did you learn he was the culprit in the first place?"
"We suspected him at the village meeting already", Elladan explained. "It was a strange coincidence that first our dear old friend is killed by an archer and then it is an archer who seems to save us from the villagers´ wrath."
"We agreed to his plan mainly to lead the danger away from the village and to confirm our suspicion", Elrohir continued. "He lead us here and there all day, passing several fresh tracks to present us with traps that were at least a week old."
"He also demonstrated his superior skills with the bow, affirming that he could have been the killer." The look Elladan shot the sleeping human made Legolas wonder how much self control it took the older twin not to slay him. "He lead us straight into an ambush next, again pretending to be a saviour by leading Estel to what he called safety."
Elrohir nodded, his face as dark as his brother´s. "It was clear to us that he could not have set all the traps by himself, that there had to be more behind this than a single man. Strangely, he seemed to know a lot about elves when Elladan spoke to him, including the fact that humans have great disadvantages against us in battle."
"Thus considering Estel the prefect leverage."
"Indeed. There is no doubt that now he will lead us into the heart of this devilry, secure in his belief that he will be able to take us captive once the time is right. But it is still a mystery to us why he would even do such hateful things. Men like Betham follow him readily, lost in personal pain, as do those whom he may have promised money. But his motive has not yet unveiled itself to us."
"Maybe it is money as well." Legolas related to the twins what he had heard the men say on the path, and he also took the chance to tell them of the girl in the trees.
They were so astonished by his tale that they did not even mock him for getting shot by a child.
"Aye, a mixed child? How can it be that no one seems to know of this?" Elrohir looked truly troubled. "She has cetrainly not been revealed to any elven community father is in contact with. What if she does not even know of her heritage? Poor creature, it must be confusing to be the same as her peers and yet so different."
"Secrets often breed violence." Elladan said darkly. "This cannot be a coincidence. We need to keep our eyes open and talk to her as soon as possible."
"I wish you the best of luck", Legolas said with a pointed glance at the arrow.
"Ah yes, which reminds me." Elrohir finally unpacked his healing supplies. He threw his brother a questioning glance. "It should not be too difficult to remove", the older twin answered the silent question. "Thank the Valar that Arwen is not here, or Legolas would have certainly arrived with the arrow a mere inch from his heart."
Remembering their earlier jibes, Legolas could not help but grin at that. "Who knew you considered your beautiful sister such an ill omen?"
"Only when it comes to you" Elrohir replied evenly. "Yet even though you are thankfully not on the brink of death this time, the fresh wound does nothing to improve your state of health, my friend. You need proper rest once the arrow is removed, yet Galoth should not see you once he wakes."
"Easily accomplished", Elladan said with a shrug. "I shall give Galoth more sleeping herbs. It will provide us with more time and him with more of a headache." He grinned evilly.
Finally equipped with enough time and peace of mind, the twins set to work.
/
Estel woke with a start. For a moment he was so disoriented that he could not even tell whether he was actually awake, but then his memory returned and with it the remembrance of his prison.
Sighing, he rightened himself against a dirt wall and glanced upwards. Dull grey light began to seep in between the boards, but it was not that which had woken him. Suddenly, his senses snapped fully awake. Someone was walking across the clearing. The steps were light, very light, almost like those of an elf.
For a moment he considered calling out, thinking that maybe it was one of his brothers come to set him free, but then caution overrode his hope and he remained silent. Listening closely, he soon discovered that the steps were not those of someone randomly wandering about.
Rather, they seemed to circle his prison, pausing now and again as if to listen or as if unsure whether to approach even fruther. As the morning light slowly grew stronger, he could even see a shadow darkly sliding over the trapdoor every time the stranger passed by.
After a while, the boy grew tired of the breathless tension. He had no doubt that so shortly after being forced open, the trapdoor would be clearly visible. He was also fairly certain that whoever this was either knew of him or at least suspected him to be there. Why this game of sneaking around then?
Gathering his courage, Estel finally raised his voice. "Whoever you are, I would appreciate some breakfast!"
The steps halted immediately. Then, almost in a rush, they quickly approached and a figure knelt on the trapdoor, clearly peering inside. Estel hoped that this person saw as little of him as he did of the other. When the silence dragged on, he sighed and asked: "So, did you bring any breakfast?"
The stranger hesitated before getting to his feet again. A moment later the trapdoor raised itself with a painful squeak. Estel took a deep breath, then another, relieved by the sudden lightness on his chest.
His rescuer had stepped back beyond his range of vision and neither said a word nor offered any food. The boy slowly raised himself to his feet, then almost sat down again when he realized that an arrow was pointed at his face.
"Stay in there, child!" a light voice hissed, "for if you do not, I shall kill you." There was a cold to the tone that told Estel not to take the warning lightly. Still, he remained upright and squinted against the bright light in an attempt to see who he was talking to. When he finally did, he could not hide his surprise.
"You are a girl!"
"A girl with a bow, so you should not take any chances. Eat!" With one of her booted feet she pushed a piece of bread towards him, then a flask of water. Estel accepted both gratefully. As he ate, his eyes slowly adjusted to the light and he could see the young woman more clearly.
She wore green clothes not unlike those he had often seen on Legolas. Her blond hair was braided away from a slightly dirty face with delicate features that were dominated by a pair of keen blue eyes. She wore a scarf tied around her head.
When he had finished eating, the boy wiped his mouth on his sleeve and pushed the flask back towards her. "Thank you", he said. "My name is Estel."
She snorted, the corners of her mouth drawn up in a snarl. "Such a fitting name", she spat. "Hope should serve you well once you sit alone and forgotten in your prison again."
"Not forgotten by you, it seems", he said carefully. "And pray tell, how do you know the meaning of my name?"
He caught a flash of insecurity across her face, but it was immediately replaced by a scowl. "What is that to you, brat? Do you believe that only Lord Elrond´s little pets understand the pointy-ears´ drawl? You should not be so arrogant."
"I was merely trying to solve a little riddle", Estel replied, nonplussed both by her knowledge and her seemingly boundless anger. Yet her anger could also be used against her, or so the twins had often told him, and he decided to press his advantage.
"Will you be so kind as to allow me a little walk? I need to relieve myself."
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously and Estel carefully schooled his features into innoncence. It was not too difficult, as what he had said was not a lie.
"Lhagr, deleb adan" /Quickly, disgusting human/ she finally said. "And rest assured, should you try to trick me I shall have no qualms about shooting you. Only a few hours ago I shot an elf too spineless to shoot me first."
Estel pushed himself out of the hole, his arms trembling slightly. He was not sure whether it was his nervousness or the deathly truth in her words that chilled him more. He could only pray to the Valar to give him the speed and agility he would need to stay alive.
Slowly, Estel began to walk.
To be continued...
Finally, a new chapter. I hope you liked it. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!
Review responses:
Pip the Dark Lord of All: Glad you liked it. And here are a few more hints about the girl...
Aini NuFire: Thanks! Well, at least Legolas has found the wtins and someone has found Estel...
Horsegirl01: Not too much "horseaction" for you this time, I am afraid, but there will be more soon. Thanks as always!
SnoCat: Hm, let´s see – Estel is found by the slightly crazy girl... *g* I hope you liked it!
Ara Godess of the Broken: Thanks! See my PM about LMP
Agentsodarda: Well, you had a few of your questions answered at least. And the horse will play quite a role next time around...
bettsam0731: * g* And I thought I was evil... I hope you don´t mind that Legolas has some help now.